Trump's Golan Move Was Timed To Guarantee Netanyahoo's Reelection

The people who paid for Trump's election campaign, foremost casino magnate and zionist Sheldon Adelson, want to keep the Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahoo in office. Netanyahoo is under investigation in several corruption cases and has a serious competitor in the upcoming general elections in Israel. Trump needs money for his re-election campaign and is willing to do anything to get it.

Trump is colluding with Netayahoo to influence the Israeli election. It is the reason why he decided yesterday to claim that Israel has sovereignty over the Golan Heights:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump - 16:50 utc - 21 Mar 2019After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!

The Heights are Syrian lands that were occupied by Israel during its 1967 war of aggression against Egypt and Syria.

The Heights are of strategic-military value. Whoever controls them can also control the plains east, west and south to it. Israel built several radar and spy station on the heights that allow it to see deep into Syria.

This profile picture falsely depicts the occupied Heights territory as Israeli.The internationally recognized border runs near the river line.bigger

President Donald Trump’s tweet on Thursday recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory surprised members of his own Middle East peace team, the State Department, and Israeli officials.

U.S. diplomats and White House aides had believed the Golan Heights issue would be front and center at next week’s meetings between Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. But they were unprepared for any presidential announcement this week.

Trump's declaration was expected, but not for yesterday. The reason for the premature ejaculation is obvious. Yesterday a new case of Netyahoo's utter corruption came to light:

State prosecutors are reportedly considering opening yet another criminal graft investigation against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this time in the so-called submarine affair, citing “dramatic” new information.

Netanyahoo made a profit of $4 million from shares he owned in a company that was bought out by Thyssen-Krupp, a German conglomerate from which Israel under Netanyahoo ordered submarines and corvettes.

The new revelations threatened to blow up Netanyahoo's reelection campaign. Trump's sudden Golan Heights move was timed to bury them.

The wording of Trump’s tweet likely falls short of a formal, declarative recognition, according to Dan Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel under former President Barack Obama. But little more than a statement from the president or secretary of state is necessary to secure the major U.S. policy shift.

The White House is mulling several ways to formalize the policy decision, including a potential executive order signing ceremony on Monday with Netanyahu present. ...Administration officials said that National Security Advisor John Bolton was instrumental to the decision, after visiting Israel in January to assure officials there that the United States would not abandon them in Syria despite Trump’s sudden withdrawal of troops from the battlefield.

The hasty move itself was typical Bolton. There was no policy process to plan and announce the decision. Long standing legal advise from other departments which warned of the move was ignored.

Trump has no power to give Israel sovereignty over anything. Several UN resolutions determined (UNSCR242) and reconfirmed (UNSCR497) that the Golan Heights are Syrian territory illegally occupied by Israel. The European Union, Russia and others rejected Trump's move and called it illegal.

Trump's move though might have some standing in U.S. courts. That will become important when law suites are filed against Genie Energy Ltd., an oil company in Newark New Jersey that wants to drill for oil in the Golan Heights area:

Genie Energy is no “penny stock” run-of-the-mill oil company. Its board of Advisors includes Dick Cheney. It includes former CIA head and chairman of the above-mentioned Foundation for Defense of Democracies, James Woolsey. It includes Jacob Lord Rothschild of the London banking dynasty and a former business partner of convicted Russian oil oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Before his arrest Khodorkovsky secretly transferred his shares in Yukos Oil to Rothschild.

Further this little-known Newark, New Jersey oil company board includes former US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, pro-Israel media mogul and owner of Trump’s favorite Fox News TV, Rupert Murdoch. Also on the board are former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and hedge fund billionaire Michael Steinhardt. Steinhardt, a philanthropic friend of Israel and of Marc Rich, is also a board member of Woolsey’s neo-con Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, which advises Trump among other things that it would be good for Washington to recognize Israel as legitimate owner of the Golan Heights lands taken by Dayan in the 1967 War.

Under international law it is illegal to draw natural resources from occupied territory. With Trump's move the owners and board members of Genie Energy receive an additional layer of legal cover in U.S. and Israeli courts.

The international consequences of the move are for now subtle. On the ground nothing changed. The Israeli occupation was and is illegal.

The occupied Golan Heights include the Sheeba farms which are Lebanese territory. The resistance axis of Hizbullah, Syria and Iran is strengthened by Trump's move and will use it move to justify further activities against Israel and perhaps against United States interests elsewhere. The move will be used to recruit more resistance fighters, especially from the Druze on the Syrian side of the Golan who have brethren living on the Israel controlled side.

It further delegitimizes the Syrian 'rebels' and the Syrian Kurds who are allied with the U.S. while Trump gives away Syrian land. It demonstrates the weakness of those Arab rulers who are allied with the U.S. but were not even informed that Trump planed to hand off Arab land. It will incite their domestic population against them. That makes it much more difficult for them to continue their policy of detente with Israel.

The 'deal of the century' for peace between Arabs and the Zionists that Trump's son in law Jared Kushner was supposed to arrange is now dead.

Trump didn't beat anyone. He was installed through extensive, well-planned machination -- a cheat on the susceptible U.S. electorate. If you don't get that yet, then you really don't have a problem with it and are peddling the Trump b.s. no one is buying any more in the hope of convincing a clueless imbecile to your Trump cause.

No one on either side in future is going to undo what Trump has awarded Israel as it would mean political suicide. Trump will never undo what he did either. First, he's a Zionist elite without question, and 2nd he's never wrong in his own mind and that's why he was chosen. You just don't want to admit the truth, so you try to mitigate how damaging his actions really are now that you're in the minority still worshipping him while he makes these crazy irreversible moves.

Trump is no idiot, but he suffers from a superiority derangement syndrome that is easy for his Zionist handlers to manipulate, and his inflated hubris is compatible with the full domination Zionists are seeking. Even a Manchurian candidate couldn't deliver like Trump is and will continue to deliver.

>>>>>>>>>>

Regarding Syria and the message I think Trump is sending with his GH statement. I don't trust that we've seen the end of military aggression against Syria. Apparently Russia has started withdrawing air forces from Syria this month. This is really puzzling and premature, because I suspect there's more to come in Syria. Let's say Syria is being prepared for war phase 2 that involves targeting Iran, and a no fly is implemented, then it would make sense that Trump would leave only small dispersed bases near the GH and in the northeast. Iran will not leave Syria because the Iranians know that an attack on Iran is inevitable in future with Trump in power and Iran can strike back at Israel from close range within Syria. So again, it would make sense if Trump removes most troops from harm's way, and places small contingents in locations where they can easily be transferred over the border, if and when aerial attacks happen. This is my suspicion. Maybe I'm wrong but there might be more to this statement than Trump just helping Yahoo get re-elected. Any way, if it's the case, and I hope I'm wrong, it's not imminent. I suspect the start of Trump's second term, but Iran is very much in Trump's crosshairs and Netanyahoo's as well. I was hoping Trump wouldn't get a 2nd term, but now that the Mueller threat has been diffused, I'm afraid it's a sign that Trump's reign is continuing 5+ more years. Just imagine how much damage he can do with that much time.

So if Trump and the GOP are the regal agents of zion then how will that play out in the USA? Somehow that could be s premature move from my remote perspective. Fascinating to watch and terrifying for all.

Mike Pompeo suggested in an interview on March 21 that it’s very possible God sent President Donald Trump to protect and defend Israel from the Iranian regime.

Yeah, and maybe Trump is the Messiah Jews are still waiting for, or better yet, maybe Trump is the Messiah Evangelicals are praying will return and rain hell fire on Israel. Maybe, the unwitting consequence of the one who tries to protect Israel, and the evil it created, will be the destruction of Israel, and Rick Wilson was right when he wrote that everything Trump touches, dies. Trump may yet be the one to release Israel's fate, and it would be really ironic that God would pick someone as depraved as Trump to save Israel from its own depravity, wouldn't it?

All kidding aside: No way are Palestinians going to be forcibly transferred to Jordanian and Saudi land swaps. When Jared conceived the deal, he must have been high on the same stuff S.T. Coleridge was smoking when he created the...Ancient Mariner. Nope. Zionists, i.e. Jews killed the Albatross, and they ain't getting off that easy!

>>>> Jackrabbit | Mar 23, 2019 12:33:04 AM | 93
So which of these is a new war started by Trump.

Bombing Syria based on false flags (twice);

Nah, Obama started it.

Illegally occupying Syria (any pretense of legal occupation is gone with the demise of ISIS);

Ibid.

Supporting the illegal occupation of Syria by other countries (Turkey in Idlib, Israel in Golan Heights);

Ibid.

Stealing Venezuelan government assets;

Might be an act of aggression and destroy confidence in United States financial institutions but it's not war.

Continued occupation of Afghanistan (17+ years now);

Carter started it, it's just that most Americans have such bad memory that looking back 40 years is too hard.

Supporting KSA and UAE war on Yemen (genocidal);

Again, Obama started it even signing something to declare that Venezuela was a threat to the national security of the United States. What a contemptible wimp.

Virtual (sic) embargo of Russia and Iran;

Again, Obama started it with Russia. Most of the most recent sanctions have been against individuals or business entities that have little or nothing to do with the United States. Pure window dressing.
As for Iran, Obama came up with a bad agreement (Trump is right) that he couldn't or wouldn't deliver on which is SOP for Washington.

Militarizing space.

Yet another boondoggle that the MIC will deliver something for but it'll probably be as successful as the F-35.
No new wars.

Lmao. You go girl. And I will vouch for you. Lurking at the time and amusedly aghast ("the horror!the horror!") at all the support evidenced for Trump by so-called leftist commenters (mutated into "post-ideological" commenters by the events of Novemer 2016) was most impressive. You may not have been the only one but there were very few others for sure.

Your ability to stand against the reactionary tide of the mutants such as James the Weather Vane (or Carlton your Doorman, as I affectionately term him) is in fact what led me to return to take on the Trump dogma.

And of course I hesitate to admit this because you will now be roundly blamed for bringing the donkey dembot shill back into the milieu. Sorry bout dat.

Yet you were and still are to this day a shining beacon of truth about Trump among many dim bulbs of grey or pure blacklight vis a vis the orange buffoon.

"I don't trust that we've seen the end of military aggression against Syria"

No doubt whatsoever.

There is no question that the war on Syria is ongoing. It would be uncharacteristic of Zionist ideologues to leave their longstanding mission which picked up in pace and zeal after the failure of the 'New Middle East' project with the IDF given a bloody nose in 2006. The invasion of Lebanon that year by the IDF was meant to completely crush Hizbullah and enfeeble both Syria and Iran to secure ongoing and complete military dominance of the region. Following that 2006 defeat, Israel lost the ability to launch ground forces into Lebanon at will. Before that milestone, and in the minds of its military psyche, ground incursions into Lebanon posed no formidable challenge. At present, it has been restricted to low risk violations of Lebanese airspace and to carry out strikes against Syria from outside the AAA danger zone.

The existence in Lebanon of a proximate deterrent which is capable, resolute and committed to defending its ground with formidable force is something completely unacceptable to a state which behaves more like a military garrison than a member of the international community of nations. The militant mindset that sustains the imperial character of Zionist Israel will at all cost continue reestablish an unchallenged imperious status which as Norman Finkelstein once observed, can only be reversed with a crushing military defeat where its armed might is stripped of the ability to impose its will to subdue its enemies. If and when this comes about, it might would have the option of changing its fundamental racist nature and become an open polity for all its inhabitants. Short of that, there is a real danger of resorting to the nuclear option which, in addition to visiting horrific toll in human life and destruction on its enemies, would be a suicidal move with incalculable consequences. Its patrons, enablers and protectors would be in full panic mode, their screams for vengeance, like shrieks from bedlam could ignite a massive US retaliatory response and a conflagration where anything is possible

To Mourning Dove # 85. Ditto girl, and about time some one said it. The bloviating shortshanks should discover that it's a two way street. To PavewaylV, as always thanks for your research. Re: the Evil Empire's expanding smash and grab, i.e. ISIS gold; Libyan gold; Ukrainian gold; Venezuelan gold; Venezuelan $Billions; a little island near the Philippines; the attempts on Haiti and the Golan Heights - one wonders if the Empire is broke and the bill collector is knocking on the door.

While I'm at it--
Russiagate was an intentionally floated conspiracy theory to funnel all conspiracy theory talk into one useless pile of nonsense. It was also useful for waging war on Russia without protests.

The Empire has no clothes anymore and every move the US makes precipitates its fall.
No one except IL's staunchest allies will recognize the Golan bit.
Assad as said it many times, every inch of Syria will come back.

There's no substantive way in which Trump wants anything but the continuation and escalation of the Clinton-Bush-Obama trajectory. That was obvious from day one of his campaign, same as it was obvious from day one that Obama intended nothing but to continue Bush. Everything he's done as president confirms this.

The reason I preferred Trump to Hillary Ribbentrop is that even though in principle he's the same globalist-imperialist-corporate-worshipping warmonger, his personal chaos, his waywardness and indiscipline and self-indulgent obnoxious bluster could lead to a more quick and abrupt collapse of the empire. So far there's reason to be cautiously optimistic that this is happening.

That's also the primary reason so many in the establishment have opposed Trump. What Wall Street CEO wouldn't prefer a reliable, disciplined technocrat bootlick like Obama or Hillary to a mercurial egomaniac like Trump?

@118 russ...i had and continue to have much the same view "....could lead to a more quick and abrupt collapse of the empire"- that makes me a weather vein apparently, lol... i think trump has been good at completely pulling away the facade about the usa being good for or on anything... i was cheering trump on in this regard... whether trump gets another term, or is replaced with someone as hopeless as all the other leaders the usa has had for what seems like forever - is irrelevant... they are incapable of changing the rut they have been on, so i am walking for a complete breakdown.. trump has been great in this regard... all the bullshit right out in the open for all to see..

Hillary Clinton is and always been an untrustworthy liar with a completely mercenary personality based on which way the political winds were currently blowing strongest; she has flipped flopped on every major political position she's ever advocated for - gay marriage, the Iraq War, free trade, prison reform, welfare reform, banking regulation, etc... Politicians have a limited number of policies they can flip-flop on and still be treated seriously, Hillary drove over that line at full speed and never even considered stopping. So the choice for the voters boiled down to a untrustworthy liar or a famous bullsh*ter; if you vote for the liar - what's the point, she has a track record of switching stances so what she campaigned on doesn't really matter cause the only track record she has that matters is that she breaks promises - so why bother. If you vote for the bullsh*ter, well you got a chance there, maybe he's BSing but maybe not, he's more trustworthy by the very fact he doesn't have the political history for people to judge him aginst.

I am of your mind, and you state it best. I did not (and would not) vote for Trump - I say that at the outset. Yet, (and I think even b has this in mind when he describes Trump policies) there is something ingrained in Pompeo's 'messenger of God' statement. Let us remember (if some of us can do that) the story of Job, wherein at the beginning of it, Satan himself is given an active part to play in that Biblical epic.

I'm not saying that Trump is Satan - but indeed his pre-emptive tweets have the quality of causing disarray not only among his detractors, but among those who would have a master plan for the world, if not the universe. Sure, damage is being done, and I'm not saying it is deliberate twenty-dimensional chess, but it is in Trump's nature - nay, in his very name - to outdo his 'minders' and come out on top. He is by nature an actor, dare I say a clown - and you have to watch out for clowns! They at their best imitate their betters, lampoon them.

I've said this before - Goethe's Mephistopheles bemoans the fact that as hard as he tries to do evil, it always turns in the end into something good. Forewarned is forearmed; is Trump doing this deliberately? Maybe not. But in these times, better to have a fool for a president than a clever one.

@122 jr.. thanks jackrabbit.. i really don't give a rats ass on that either way!! for me circe endless yammering on trump and zionism 24/7, no matter the context of the thread, was the reason for me saying 'one trick pony'.. this is the perfect thread for 'one trick pony' to comment on his favourite hobby horse... thanks either way...

@124 juliania.. thanks.. i don't think trump has any real long term plan for anyone other then himself.. the guy is your typical self centered sleaze ball real estate developer type, who doesn't have any morals or ethics as i see it.. in some ways i think it is better him leading this machine, then the polished ones are good with eloquent speech and etc. etc but in the end follow the same path of selling the little people out... and at this point canada and many of the western countries as well as on the same road- serving war, wall st, and this neoliberalism agenda.. clearly many people on the planet are unhappy with this...

Current director list of Genie Energy from Bloomberg below. Some have their compensation linked - Landrieu, $265,815. May be useful to use the name "Bill" Richardson by which he's widely known instead of "William".

Good call on having Dems and Repugs - it's safe from any media scutiny.

I do not think anybody including the Syrians feel that the Syrians are in a position to go war with Israel over the Golan. Why would Israelis have to claim something they already control? Silence on the issue on their part is the best response. Syria has no hope of taking the Golan back for generations. The country is shattered.

All this Trump bluster has some other purposes. It is his street credentials. Twitter out policy behind the establishments back based on the desires of himself and the needs of a few others. Ahead of the APAIC summit it is his statement, "we are 100% in your corner", take the gloves off with the Palestinians, take control of the Holy sites from Jordan, and anything else you want is yours.

If this move can help Bibi to get re-elected, then it is obvious that the issue has big support and approval by Israeli citizens.
And by Jews in general I dare to say. Here is why. The name 'Golan' entered my mind through the SciFi book 'Foundations Edge' written by Isaac Asimov. I read the book in high school, that time I did not know nor I cared about contemporary ME events, and I was not familiar with detailed geography of the ME. In that book, the name of the main protagonist is Golan Trevize.
As I grew older I started to pay a bit more attention to the current an past events, and some childhood memories came back. Golan, hmmm. Why Mr Asimov chose that name, was it accidental? Or the name means something to him, what some obscure plateau in Syria has to do with a famous American SF writer and scientist, MENSA member and intergalactic thinker?

"i don't think trump has any real long term plan for anyone other then himself."

I'm not sure even about that. I sincerely wonder if he wakes up in the morning with any clear idea of what specifically he wants to do that day, just vague but intense drives to maximize globalist and imperial destruction. (He does share with his fellow elites the special infatuation toward the Zionists.)

Meanwhile what personal plan could he have by now? He's been a novelty-seeking adventurer since I first knew of him in the 80s. That's one of the things that makes him the most typical and logically preordained president since, well, the 1970s at least: He perfectly incarnates the whole mindset and culture of late imperial globalism, capitalism, and berserk ecocide (collective suicide, modern civilization as one big Jonestown). Heck, I'll do Pompeo one better - Trump is like the Son of Capitalism itself made flesh and come to Earth.

Those of you who are hoping for an abrupt collapse of the Empire, please consider the death toll that would result. While I agree that the Empire needs to fall, as one of the people who would be unlikely to survive a sudden collapse, I'm hoping for more of a controlled bring down. The global Resistance to Empire is building new independent systems and increased capacity to export food and other vital needs. That's where my hope is.
Even the argument that whatever befalls the people in the US is inconsequential compared to the relief it would bring the rest of the world is specious. The US has bases all over the planet filled with soldiers, contractors, weapons, ammo, equipment, and plenty of food and water. I think it's just an assumption that collapse would necessarily mean that those bases would be abandoned rather than those resources being used to establish pockets of control.
Between militarized police forces and the not so small minority in the US that is armed to the teeth and just waiting with itchy trigger fingers for an open season and a return to the rules of the Old West, it will be deadly chaos inside the US. And I'm kinda starting to think that the Empire wants to collapse the institutions and structures like international law in order to free itself of any restraints. Everything the US does seems to be pushing in that direction.
I understand the appeal of imagining the Empire falling, just please, think about what that really means.

“Hillary drove over that line at full speed and never even considered stopping.”

One commentator at the time described her as “driving toward a brick wall at 8o mph and yelling for the wall to get out of the way.” I thought it was very hilarious at the time, and time has proven it to be apt.

I still maintain the reason that Trump has started no new wars is because Russia and Putin are seriously in the way not because he's some kind of nice guy.

Nah, Putin may be able to interfere in U.S. proxy wars in his near abroad but he just doesn't have the ability to project power elsewhere. Even with Syria, it's been a struggle to support Assad which is why the conflict seems so low intensity. Added to which, the war has to be fought at a level Syria can sustain because if it isn't and Russia withdraws, the proxy/terrorist war can be ramped up all over again and the United Staes and Saudi Arabia are arrogant and stupid enough to think they can get away with it.

Going back to the last large scale Soviet/Russian intervention, American morons gloat at how the jihadists defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Well, they're fucking wrong because the Soviets got fed up with being shat on by the United States and Saudi Arabia, trained and equipped the Afghan army to be able to defend the Afghan government and packed up and went home. It was three years later, only after the Soviet Union collapsed and cutoff funding to the Afghan government, that the Afghan army collapsed. I bet the American military wish they could do the same but they're so fucking useless that they can't.

I don't think he's "some kind of nice guy" but the MSM have grossly misrepresented him. He understands his base more than most people and one thing he does seem to understand is that his base are fed up with the manufactured wars the United States is involved in because their dying in them for no obvious reason or benefit to the United States. On the other hand, the MIC, Washington Borg, Democratic establishment, etc. is too heavily invested in those manufactured wars for him to withdraw the United States from them immediately, so he has to do it slowly and that sometimes means taking two steps back for one step forward.

For instance with Syria, he declared that the US military were going to leave there completely, then the Pentagon put it about that 500 troops were to stay and then encouraged by his failure to push back, pushed their luck by saying that 1000 were to stay. Trump pushes back so now we're back at 500 staying. In a few months Trump, when there are only 500 troops in Syria, Trump will "remember" that he said all troops were to be withdrawn and they will be.

The same appears to be happening with Venezuela, where all the recent threats by Bolton, Abrams, Rubio seem to be expiring. If Gauido had delivered the numbers he'd promised to the border protests, things might be different because it would have shown he could deliver. Quite obviously he can't and neither will Brazil or Columbia, so I'm expecting a series of tweets from Trump about how Guaido has let the United States down and how he can't be trusted so why should the United States support him.

As for Israel, I can see why a vane person like Trump might hate Adelson, Saban and Netanyahu for making Trump look like their "bitch". After the 2020 election bills have been paid off, they lose all control over Trump. Then there is Netanyahu and the Zionists' overriding principle of "what is mine is mine, what is your is also mine". I can well see the Zionists sucking up all the goodies that Trump gives them, but when it comes to them fulfilling whatever "the deal of the century" requires of them, they will decline to do. At which point Trump cuts off their cocks and shoves them down their throats, metaphorically speaking off course. And he saves several billion a year which can be added to the United States defense spending.

What happens with North Korea in the next few months will indicate where Trump is going though it's interesting that he seems to have taken over the negotiations.

For supposedly such a simple, stupid man, Trump is remarkably opaque about what he's up to, so it's difficult to have any clarity about what he actually intends to do but I suspect more will become clear the closer we get to the next election. Of course, some things will only become clear after the next election if he wins which is looking increasingly likely.

First of all, declaring Syrian sovereign territory as the territory of a hostile usurper could be considered a provocation for war. If Trump hasn't triggered war yet, it's not for lack of trying; it's because so far, cooler heads are holding back.

And by the way, Trump is contributing far more to the proxy war in Yemen than his predecessor, and sent thousands more troops into Afghanistan, and they're all still there, even after Mattis is long gone. And ironically, it's Mattis who talked him out of sending troops into Venezuela and taking out Assad. So he brought on Bolton and Abrams instead! Why's that? Just cause he likes the company of warmongers, or are you gonna tell me he's he trying to convert them to peace? When Trump suggested making these crazy moves, did he have peace in mind??? Maduro has accused Trump of the attempt on his life with a drone and I prefer to believe Maduro over Trump, anyday. After all, he wanted to do same to Assad. If that attempt on Maduro were successful, that too would have been a cause for war.

Tearing up the Iran deal and reimposing sanctions is also an act of war, as is tightening the sanctions screws on NK shortly after Trump took office.

Why did Trump get out of the nuclear proliferation treaty with Russia, when he remarked during his campaign that nuclear proliferation was the worst threat? And why when pressed over and over again did he refuse to assure that he would not use nukes EVEN when pressed about using them in Europe? He couldn't even rule out using them in Europe! That's crazy! And here you have how Trump feels about war from the horse's mouth.:

I know, It's an excerpt from a campaign ad, so what? It's his voice, his words.

So, I'm not supposed to believe him because luckily he didn't trigger war yet?

NAAAH...This is maybe the only thing he's been truthful about! I just pray he doesn't get 4 more years to prove it.

>>>>>>>>>>

Hey, donkeytale, you're right, I may not have been the only one, but when you read stuff like F-off, Hillarybot, and even Zionist troll, me, imagine that? The so-called one-trick pony? Well I sure felt like I was the only one! I have to confess, though, I have resorted to calling out Zionist trolls myself, but damnit, it was shameless hasbara, and I couldn't help myself!

Anyway,✌!

And that goes for everyone. (except Zionist land bandits trolling for sympathy. They get this 😠.)

Well GS I see it differently than you do. I think Trump is pretty blatant and up front with his thoughts and not opaque at all.
I also think that aggression can take many forms that do not bring US soldiers home in body bags but are still war.
Trump has two problems stopping more hot wars. War weariness on behalf of the US public, and Russia with real troops and deadly weapons in the way.
Obama and Bush did not face those problems because they were not there. Venezuela for example. The sanctions are so heavy and the theft of Venezuela's gold and money is war. Could Venezuela fight the monster it would be a very hot war with body bags.

@130 russ.. i like your description of him - son of capitalism incarnate.. personally i've enjoyed his jack in the box personality expressed via tweets in a ''what insane thing is he going to say next?' kind of way.. on the topic of israel, he's been extremely predictable, a trait he shares with all other usa political leaders for what seems like forever..

What is interesting about this announcement is what comes next. The out line of the Deal of the Century has been leaked to the Israeli press and what it calls for is the Palestinians to give up land, Jordan to give up land, Saudi Arabia to give up land and Egypt to give up land. Every one is expected to hand over part of their country except the Israel Jews. This comes on the heals of Trump handing over Syrian land to Israel and Pompeo in Lebanon demanding they hand their oil reserves to Israel. So basically all the big Arab players are being ordered to pay tribute to Israel. I expect the Arab street to be boiling over this.

Thank-u! I forgot about the gold theft. GS sure can spin a good one for Trump but it don't fly.

So now the latest defense of Trump around here is: yeah, Trump sucks, but he's unwittingly bringing down the Empire. Really? What side of the looking glass are those of you holding up this latest theory looking through, cause all I see with Trump is more control through economic tyranny, and further geo-domination? Trump is a wrecking ball to all efforts made by China and Russia to secure balance of power, and you think he's weakening the Empire? If he gets a foothold in Venezuela and then heads his own cartel and then moves in on Iran; it's game over for China, and Russia will then be isolated for regime change machinations later. You're playing him for a fool and a clown, but the wiliest Zionist ever, Kissinger, saw great potential there for further securing the realm to full domination. The loud-mouth clown act sure has everyone fooled! So you're holding back on fully condemning Trump in hope of the best fool's paradise ever, that the Empire will collapse thanks to Trump? Trump is changing international laws to conform to the Empire's way or the highway, and getting away with it, but I'm supposed to believe this is a sign of the Empire crumbling.

And here's the razzie winner!:

I've said this before - Goethe's Mephistopheles bemoans the fact that as hard as he tries to do evil, it always turns in the end into something good.

Gooood??? Good for whom? The Palestinians, Venezuelans, farmers getting screwed on tariffs and climate change, children separated from their mothers and put in cages, Iranians in the crosshairs, Yemeni families living on starvation rations, the Chinese who scratched their way out of poverty with an impending reversal of fortune through Trump economic warfare, the North Koreans who can't get out of poverty unless they surrender their only deterrance, Russians still saddled with sanctions and military threat on their border, Europeans who will be cheated out of cheaper lng and forced to buy the U.S. and Israeli kind, average Americans whose children will have to fork out tax payments tomorrow to cover the massive tax relief for the rich today, WHOOOOO is benefiting from Trump's penchant for GOOD, for God's sake?!

Kissinger, his Zionist brethern and the one-percent elites who support Zionist oppression with their fortunes are getting their money's worth with Trump and laughing all the way to the Banks they also own and some of you are still enablers for their bloody cause. Argh.

@140 Calm down will you? You give the Donald too much credit. Venezuela? Massive Fail. Iran? Steadfast and resolute. China and Russia isolated? Laughable at best. Yemen, yes sad but Ansar still prevails. Cant you see how the US has been failing at every step since Debaltsevo?

So now the latest defense of Trump around here is: yeah, Trump sucks, but he's unwittingly bringing down the Empire.

Nope, the latest defense of Trump goes like this: He was THE BEST CANDIDATE of all candidates Republicans and Democrats offered for the election. You disagree? Fine. Which one was better? Crazy mofo Rubio? Jeb Bush? That idiot Ted Cruz? Your beloved insane bitch Hillary? Spineless double faced bastard Sanders? Yeah, Trump is bad, but the others were 100x worse. That is the reality of American politics. Bad and ugly, no decent person has any chance to be considered for any position of power. Only bastards get there and then the strongest and the best bastard wins. This time that was Trump. Sure,some people got disappointed in him, but guess what, it is better to believe and get disappointed than spend the life as cynical pessimist. But as much as people got disappointed in him, no one says that it would be better if any other candidate won.

My beloved??? Reaching for the low blow again, I see. That right there is the most pathetic excuse for continuing support of Trump. The election is over so quit hiding behind that pile of rubbish just to deny I'm right and shame me when you're the shameful hanger-on despite the glaring truth before you. I clearly stated a thousand times that it doesn't matter who won that election between the two as there is no democracy and so if Trump won then you're the sap for believing he's somehow better when his billionaire handlers knew for certain, better than you, that he would and will still deliver more shet to screw the rest of the planet than Hillary was capable of doing within the confines of her Party and with a disenchanted Left already mad as hell that Sanders was sidelined. Spare me your Trumpline defense of the indefensible, and next time you wanna use a low blow check the facts. You only discredit yourself.

reply to Jackrabbit 122
"...I fear that without the equanimity of commenters like james and jen, the comment section would be filled with hate and wild speculation."

I agree, there are some here who take the same measured stance as the, "She's a witch!!!" crowd in Monty Python. Far better to consider reasoned opinion than to be reading though shrill posts that end with a typed metaphorical hiss.

reply to Ghost Ship 134
I agree, watch what he actually does rather than what he says. To add to your excellent examples; remember he said he was giving his Generals complete say about Syria, Iraq, Afganistan et al? Then when they accomplished nothing, he said, you're done, we're out.
That is the way he operates, he gives rope, you either figure out fast what to do with said rope or he hangs you with it.
As for his base, he appears to genuinely like his base. Watch him when he attends rallies, he has no fear of them, he really, really appreciates them. Will he betray them? Not if he can help it IMO.
He knows he has a life after his presidency and PT Barnum persona that he is he knows that their continued loyalty is worth a fortune.

A funny thing happened on the Oz edition of the International News this morning. The reports from CGTN(China), NHK(Japan), DW(Germany), France24 and Al Jazeera didn't mention Trump's Golan gambit. At all.
Channel 31 broadcast some foreign language footage with lots of Bibi in it and a 9 watermark in one corner but C31's EPG was blank making it impossible to easily ID the source.

Very good post, thanks.
I'd add that the US has probably the most powerful weaponry of any empire in history. If chaos erupts, there's bound to be some military or populist leader saying, 'Hey, rather than just collapsing, let's use those guns and make others pay the price!' - maybe just as a threat, at first. In times of crisis, the loudest, most extreme voices tend to get amplified.

The collapse of an Empire has never been a period of peace and quiet - my favourite example is the late Bronze Age, there's many more. But today's weapons are just too powerful to be actually used, if humanity wants to survive.

So all countries & institutions should be working towards an 'orderly transition' (decline).
If you ask me, that's essentially what Europe, China and Japan are doing.

I think that you are now trying to dodge the issue here. I don't think anyone here has anything against criticizing Trump moves. I first was not impressed at all by his Syrian Tomahawk show over the most beautiful chocolate cake. However, you were calling an idiot anyone here who said that was glad he was elected. That is the problem. You should realize and admit people who voted for him were no fools. They chose the best candidate. If he somehow failed to meet the expectations and hopes does not render the hopefuls fools, it is not their fault. The fault is in Trump alone, it is his responsibility.
Stop lambasting people because they were expressing hopes that Trump would be good.
Keep lambasting that orange baboon as much you want, but you are preaching to the choir. I do not see anyone here that likes him that much.

Your last paragraph reminds me, I have been wondering for a while who's actually the 'brain' behind Trump's foreign policy. It's surprisingly far-sighted and consistent, like there's a real strategy. And that doesn't seem like Trump at all, at least not the way he's generally seen (also by me, I admit).

(The same goes for MbS in Saudi A., btw, but in his case I can imagine who's behind it.)

Not sure if Trump is the one to break it to them (after 2020), but Israel can only survive as a united state of Israel & Palestine. As long as the separation and border wall are there, there'll be open or simmering conflict/war, which Israel can only lose in the long run. Maybe recognizing Jerusalem as the capital is in preparation of the 'one-state solution'?

The core problem in the US is the extreme inequality, which leads to increased numbers of people being economically and politically disenfranchised. Would anyone (or any voter) seriously expect a right-wing billionaire business guy to change that? His supporters need neither more military, nor populist rhetoric or 'the wall' - they need decent jobs, housing and medical care. If Trump can't (or doesn't want to) deliver any of that, he'll have to come up with some really 'good' distractions.

You should realize and admit people who voted for him were no fools. They chose the best candidate.

This may sound like nitpicking, but I'd modify your second sentence to say "They chose the best least-bad candidate."

It was clear to me neither Hillary nor Trump were fit to be President of anything. Hillary was a known evil, and Trump of the Seven Deadly Sins + laziness was nobody you'd want in charge of a government either. That Trump turned out to be as worthless as teats on a rooster can't be blamed on the people who voted for him. If that were somehow true, then all the Democrats who voted for Obama in 2008 must hang their heads in shame. As we know, the Power Elites forced the reelection of BHO in 2012 by making sure the Republicans had on their ticket two people who were considerably worse.

@153 I think you'll find that Trump's core supporters have decent jobs.....many in the defense industry. They probably have good housing and sons and daughters in the military. They have no objection to a wall. They can also afford medical insurance.

Rand Paul on the right and Bernie Sanders on the Left? My problem is that we are way past the election and you can't continue to use Hillary as the excuse now that the choice is between what is morally right, therefore dropping and condemning Trump and hanging on to Trump or stopping short of condemning him. There is no other choice in this moral equation and It's really low of you to throw Hillary in my face to undermine my argument when I could never stand the woman just to score your point and shut me down! That was low.

@148 smuks

Are you kidding me or just making me work to explain Zionism for nothing. If you don't see how evil Zionism is by now with your own eyes then I shouldn't even bother with you. Look spend a month on Mondoweiss, look through back issues there. Better yet, spend a month in Gaza! What is Zionism besides the cruelty, inhumanity, deprivation, theft, war crimes, like ethnic cleansing, dispossession, land and home demolitions, resettlement, imprisonment of children, separation of families, millions of refugees living in limbo for decades, crimes against humanity, periodic massacres on a poorly armed resistance and civilian population, apartheid and collective punishment on a captive people with little to no rights? It's a supremacist ideology based on fictitious God-given entitlement to a people who believe they were chosen masters of the human race and the rest of humanity is inferior and should be in their service, but they might not openly admit it although some actually do, even Rabbis, and it's a notion that Arab resistance must be controlled and neutralized with overwhelming, disproportionate military force because they are savages, amalek and anything is permissable. But the thing is that to sustain this illegal, inhumane operation Zionism requires so much more, a fascist theocratic, racist government parading as Democratic and powerful lobbies influencing foreign governments to veto U.N. Resolutions and potential sanctions and steer foreign policy to benefit Zionists. It requires unlimited funding for bribery, influence and media control of the narrative and demonizing resistance. Oh yeah, and Zionists will tell you it's only about a homeland for Jewish people, a Jewish ONLY state, that innocent! Is this enough for you? No! I suggest you open your eyes to people suffering under Zionism, okay? Don't b.s. me, everyone knows what Zionism is unless you've been living under a rock or are a rock.

Jack Rabbit @ 122: Thanks for your thumbs-up! I myself prefer to steer clear of the debate over the results of the 2016 US Presidential election. The choice of candidates on offer was clearly one that no sane electorate should have been offered. The expression "Hobson's choice" comes to mind.

Further to my #155 I would say that people support Trump because the economy is doing OK. As long as he can keep it going people will be happy. Most Americans aren't much interested in foreign policy. They don't care if he's a Zionist or a Zoroastrian.

That said candidates refusing to attend the AIPAC conference is a whole new twist.

"Of course, forming and maintaining 136 standing BTGs is costly and makes military sense only if a major armed encounter of continental proportions seems imminent and could begin without much prior notice or mobilization."

To the military, "imminent" may simply mean "possible, conceivable". Concerning the "starting" of the war with Georgia, Saakashvili (then president of Georgia and active war planner) complained bitterly that Russian made a sneak attack because prior to Georgia launching an attack on South Ossetia they carefully hid the fact that they are well prepared. On the other hand, Georgian intentions were very transparent, and as Putin launch restoration of Russian military capabilities few years earlier, the prophesy of Pavel Felgenhauer was reasonable (one may wonder how it was phrased, since it was very clear that Russia defended status quo, however lamentable to Georgians, although once the armed strife started, they improved their positions a bit).

That said, currently Russia has few reasons to be ostentatiously prepared. Number one, Ukraine may launch a major attack on Donbas republics which would be a big headache even if they loose, so it is cost efficient to intimidate them. Number two, Caucasus region is unstable, and credible Russian posture may be needed. Number three, the situation in Afghanistan may require quick movement of Russian forces to stabilize their client state of Tadjikistan. Number four, NATO is expanding forces in Baltics and it may do some good to convince them that this is futile.

Next week when Trump and Netanyahoo are shaking hands just prior to the AIPAC Convention and gloating over the real collusive quid pro quo con they pulled off and planning Trump's next term from hell while the fake collusion hysteria is providing cover in the media and sad to say on the Left, I will again have the last laugh, whether some of you like it or not. It's frustrating and very ironic that some people here who apparently have nothing to lose with slamming Trump forcefully, now that Hillary is out of the picture and in the dust bin of history, bizarrely continue to hang on to Trump and make lame excuses for him, and instead try to muzzle me with various derogatory comments for refusing to buy into any of it. Instead of forcefully attacking the subversion of democracy that continues with the Trump Presidency, that he is facilitating and furthering into the future. Instead of quitting once and for all this bastard Trump who can't be more transparent now about his motives and the swamp scum he represents, noooooh, you continue to make him untouchable and an unwitting victim that fits a delusionary end that has no basis in reality, i.e. that he is instead accelerating the Empire's fall when nothing could be further from the truth.

So I have no alternative in the face of so much incontrovertible proof provided by Trump himself lately to conclude that some of you belong to the corrupt group that is most benefiting from Trump's actions. Either that or you are totally blind in a Trump cult, and since your comments verge on the intellectual, then it can only be the former; there is no other freaking explanation! You've said it all, I bothered to read it all, even if it makes me sick as it reeks of hypocrisy, deception and even worse, apathy, for those whose lives have changed or are changing for the worse because of Trump's immoral, lunatic, and depraved policies and I'm not referring to the effect on most Americans both on the Left for not having the guts to call out the real Zionist collusion and falling for the fake Russia distraction, but also on the right for the mean-spirited ignorance that drives this virulent infatuation with Trump and for all sides protecting Zionism that is poised to destroy peace for the rest on this planet, and hurt the real victims of the domination that you continue to protect with your lame excuses that betray what you really stand for. I have no pity for wilful blindness, hypocrisy or corruption and detest enabling such.

So, next week the sham spectacle and deception continues and yes, even around here, sad to say, as Trump continues to be spared from your righteous argument that completely falls apart from the Trump hypocrisy that continues to taint it! Who can discuss with that inherent glaring contradiction always in the way? It's a circular discussion ending up with the same damn roadblock! I'm thankful to see some integrity around, but I just can't stomach the inability to cut Trump loose and liberate the truth from this serious limitation that keeps it from effecting change. If you can't rid yourselves of Trump at this stage with Hillary no longer an issue then the discussion is pointless and going nowhere instead of making ripples that then become a wave. I refuse to enable whatever other excuse you have for failing to move towards what is the morally just, unhindered and untainted truth that is above and beyond YOUR PRECIOUS Empire buster, Trump. Good grief what a joke of an excuse that is for hanging on to a corrupt wretch and not influencing change now! There is no room in the moral equation for a non existent Hillary excuse or a non-existant fool's geater end presumption. It's a choice only between what is morally right and what is not. After what Trump has pulled to date, those persisting with Trump and/or excluding him from full condemnation, will be totally transparent. You can't continue to protect Trump and sustain any moral credibility no matter the elusive greater goal some of you pretend to have. Sorry but this is the fork in the road moment. If not now than when? When he's poised on the verge of another victory ready to unleash the worst damage of all? Already, much of the damage is irreversible. It's time to put the breaks on him now. The buck doesn't stop with Pompeo, Bolton or Abrams - it stops with him. He is a threat to moral justice and a balanced planet and he must not get a second term!

@128 dltravers "I do not think anybody including the Syrians feel that the Syrians are in a position to go war with Israel over the Golan."

That was exactly the "thinking" that the Israelis had in 1973, when they "thought" that Egypt and Syria were in no position to take on the IDF so soon after the humiliation of the Six Day War.

"Why would Israelis have to claim something they already control?"

Because they are endlessly greedy.

Having "control" over the territory (which is, indeed, the very definition of a belligerent occupation) risks being reversed by a military assault by a military defeat at the hands of the SAA. If that happens then the Israeli "claim" to that territory will be revealed as, well, quite literally groundless.

But if Israel can change that "control" to "sovereignty" then its claim to the Golan survives even a military defeat: under Int'l law Israel will be entitled to lick its wounds, re-arm and then attempt to seize it back again.

So, yes, it makes a big difference.

"Silence on the issue on their part is the best response."

Negotiating to hand the Golan back to Syria is their best response.
They can demand concessions in return, and nobody has to die.

"Syria has no hope of taking the Golan back for generations."

Again, I'll point out that the Israelis thought exactly the same thing even days before the Yom Kippur War shattered that illusion about the "hopelessness" of the Egyptian and Syrian forces.

Sure, Egypt and Syria didn't get their territory back in 1973, but the Egyptians in particular made their point: they have the manpower to do this over and over and over again, and one day they will succeed.

So better to negotiate a return of that territory.
At least then Israel can demand concessions, and nobody dies.

"The country is shattered."

Sure, it is.

But the Syrian Arab Army is not, and it is now the only battle-hardened army in the Middle East. It is certainly has far more battle experience than does the IDF.

Don't think for a second that it isn't capable of handing a serious defeat to the IDF, because the current IDF is not so much an army as it is a rabble with guns.

In my view is that a war between Syria and Israel is inevitable, and Assad has been preparing for it much more thoroughly than has Netanyahu.

I doubt very much that Trump's latest nonsense has changed the Syrian timetable for that war, but it will have hardened the resolve of every single Syrian soldier.

Personally, I think the Syrian army will run through the IDF like a hot knife through butter, and the only question is whether Hezbollah launches a pincer movement to bag the entire IDF garrison in the Golan.

Maybe they'll be magnanimous, and just be content to stand on the sidelines and laugh at those brave, brave soldiers as they run back to their mummy.

Sanders, by a hundred miles.
Not wanting to dive too much into old stories, but the main problem was that the top Dems were too chicken to break with their old ways, and nominated the worst possible candidate. Basically anyone else would have won against Trump.
The old guard of Dems and Reps both support 98% the same policies, and neither can hope to win a majority with those. Reps understood and nominated an outsider show master (I had expected them to do so in 2012 already), while for Dems the only chance would have been an actual leftist. But their rich sponsors wouldn't like that, they'd rather have Trump than someone who might threaten their privileges.

Circe @157

I'd prefer a clear definition to lengthy descriptions of a situation I'm perfectly aware of.
What you describe is nationalist, militaristic expansionism. Maybe imperialism, though that hardly makes much sense when speaking of such a tiny state. Also, it may be considered a form of Apartheid due to certain legal privileges. The reasoning behind which is that if there's ever another Shoah or similar pogroms, Jews all over the world need a safe place to take refuge.

Now, while we can certainly agree that some Israeli policies are terrible, I really have the impression that you are painting them as much 'bigger than life'. A tiny country (which is deeply divided itself) cannot 'control the world', as you suggest - it has neither the economic nor the intel or organizational capacities. Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, some powerful factions in the West use Israel as a scapegoat, an outside 'fall guy' to pin all the blame on once things 'go south'?
(You do know the Haaretz quote about the 'unsinkable aircraft carrier', right?)

In Germany, the Nazis and their financial backers successfully convinced a large part of the population that their economic woes were not the fault of the wealthy 'elite', but rather 'the Jews'. This turned public anger over poverty and inequality (and, ultimately, capitalism) into a murderous racism towards a scapegoated minority. Will history repeat itself? I sure hope not.

I remember that shortly before the war started, Putin (or his minister?) expressed a clear warning to Saakashvili that attempts to militarily change the situation would not be tolerated by Moscow. So it shouldn't be any 'surprise' that the Russian forces were prepared.
It's one of those details that were in all the media at the time, but then got erased from the public 'historic' narrative. Just as all newspapers clearly wrote that Tiflis started the war.

Yes, unfortunately military logic dictates to 'be prepared' at all times, if only to deter others' (possible) aggressive acts. Of course, those 'others' will see this as threatening, a preparation of war/ aggression, so they will in turn increase their preparedness and military posturing. Setting the stage for a vicious circle of escalation.

Neither Ukraine nor Russia want war, and Kiev would be completely crazy to start one (which it isn't, despite some over-the-top rhetoric). Unfortunately, there are outside powers who *would* like to see war between the two, and likewise a minority in the region. So imv the real threat is that some (militia, rogue SF) elements may start an escalation by attacking both sides near the contact line.
(The situation with India & Pakistan is pretty much the same.)

Genie brings up another interesting failed oil scam by Genie parent IDT Corp (Howard Jonas& Sons) - this one in Colorado in 2009.

American Shale Oil AMSO (EGL Oil Shale) was bought up by Genie prior to their Colorado attempt to produce oil. The problem is that if organic matter isn't buried deep enough for long enough, it stays trapped in shale in a pre-oil form called kerogen. Think tar sands, except this is unripe tar shale - worthless. Even fracking won't work. AMSO wanted to retort (cook) the kerogen underground for a year or so, and then suck up the billions of barrels of oil produced. Sort of like an underground refinery a few hundred feet below the aquifer. What could possibly go wrong? Apparently the heater for their underground oil boiler broke, the price of oil went down and they abandoned the Colorado project around 2010. Shell has a similar method, but it took three years.

There's a lot of this pre-oil kerogen shale in Israel - that's where the MSM always gets the laughable 250 billion bbl. 'massive Israeli oil deposit' from. Except it's not oil. I think the US Green River formation has an estimated three trillion barrels. Big deal - it's useless and uneconomic to recover or use. Estonia is the only place I know of that cooks kerogen, but they physically mine the shale and heat it in giant retorts. Not exactly efficient, but - hey - it's Estonia! Meanwhile, Israel shale tar:

The geology there puts the shale tar above the aquifer, but company engineers figured a thick layer of chalk between the two would protect the water. Theoretically. Other Israelis figured that risking their depleted aquifer would be kind of a bad idea and killed the project. Here's some technicals on the products potentially produced from kerogen:

Jonas and his oily NJ mafia then moved on to get drilling permits for the Golan, but they were hoping to find free oil. They just found some tar shale and salt water according to their company filings - something geologists could have told them years ago. They claim the tar shale layer is exceptionally thick, thus the ridiculous claims of a 'massive oil deposit under the Golan,' 'more oil than Saudi Arabia', etc. - except it's not oil and more expensive/difficult/inefficient to produce than tar sands.

So why doesn't Genie use the underground refinery scheme? Hey - they still might. But for one, the process takes a ton of water. Actually, three barrels for every barrel of oil produced. Water is kind of a problem in northern Israel right now from the decade-long drought.

It also costs way over $50/bbl to produce oil from shale tar - they're going to need a lot more U.S. taxpayers' dollars to make that work. And it needs an awful lot of closely-spaced holes or a lot of lateral drilling (into the Syrian Golan). Luckily, there is a fault line that has shifted the rock under the Golan - enough that it prevents the deep aquifer under it from flowing to the Sea of Galilee like the surface water. The trapped Syrian aquifer is a price Jonas is willing to pay!

On top of all that, it still takes a year of cooking before the oil is produced. That's going to tie up hundreds of millions in financing. I'm sure that made Jonas' eyes bug out of his head. No way he's tying up his money for that long - it will have to be someone else's money. Trump will be OK with that.

This all presumes Jonas and his illegal Genie drillers really found any Golan tar shale worth cooking. They could just be after the Kinneret–Hula basin deep aquifer. Not that it matters - anything is possible. As long as Genie's former chairman, Ira Greenstein, is in the White House and controls his legal client and bottom boy, Jared Kushner. What is Syria going to do anyway? Ivanka Kushner will order another Tomahawk attack on Syria from her dad, 'cause she can do that.

The bill the US Senate is pushing through to 'recognize' the Golan as Israeli territory has some damn curious wording about supporting Israel's 'technical research' efforts there. The illegal Israeli settlements are not mentioned, so where does this 'research' mention come from? Rhetorical question - Greenstein/Jonas probably drafted the bill.

I agree with your point that analogy between Golan and Crimea isn't valid. But you don't have to go that far back in history to make that point.

In January 1991 a referendum was held in which Crimea voted overwhelmingly, by over 93%, in favor of restoring autonomy. In August 1991 the Ukrainian SSR Supreme Court declared Ukrainian independence, arbitrarily identifying the Crimean ASSR as part of the newly established state -- in violation of a law that required a separate referendum to be held in Crimea on the status of the Crimean ASSR within Ukraine. This was done deliberately since, as the January referendum graphically illustrated, Kiev knew that if put to a vote Crimea would never elect to become part of Ukraine. This was then followed up by the December 1991 all-Ukraine independence referendum which was widely boycotted by Crimeans -- and was generally considered to be the next step in the annexation of Crimea by Ukraine. Then there was the 1994 referendum that was initially blocked but then only allowed to take place on a consultative basis.One of the provisions of which was for dual Russian-Ukrainian citizenship (approved by an overwhelming majority). Basically, the entire history post-independence can be viewed as one of suppression of Crimean aspirations for self determination and it is Ukraine that is viewed as having carried out an arbitrary and illegal annexation of Crimea -- in opposition to the expressed will of the Crimean people. And with the advent of the (by definition illegitimate) coup regime 2014 provided the opportunity for Crimea to finally redress an historical injustice free from restraint by Kiev -- with an assist from Russia, of course.

As far as the Mueller report goes, I don't think it's a matter of "bread crumbs" leading to anything. The whole thing was contrived. All you have to do is look at the so-called ICA for proof of that. Clapper, Brennan, and the "hand picked" personnel from 3 agencies -- not the 17 agencies of the intelligence community they kept telling us about over and over again, like a mantra -- knew how much validity the information in the report was worth because they're the ones who made it all up in the first place. Robert Mueller already proved his worth to the cabal with his track record of lying to congress about WMDs in Iraq. Far from the paragon of integrity he has been portrayed as, he has shown he was willing to sell out his country's interest in favor of being a "team player"/insider in service of a plot to deceive the country into a war of aggression. He was the perfect person to put in charge of this report. He knew where the "bread crumbs" would lead because he was privy to the plot in the first place. They got their propaganda value out of it. They have successfully ginned up Cold War 2.0. And they have exerted pressure on Trump just in case he was serious about some of his campaign rhetoric that threatened to improve relations with Russia, pull back from NATO, withdraw from foreign entanglements.

I have to edit my comment this sentence should've read: "This was done deliberately since, as the January referendum graphically illustrated, Kiev knew that if put to a binding vote Crimea would never elect to become part of Ukraine." "binding" was the key word left out of the quote.